BMW Launches Hydrogen 7

BMW has delivered on its pledge to build a production-ready hydrogen fueled vehicle - and starting next year, you might see one on the road. The new Hydrogen 7 continues the evolution of earlier BMW prototypes, taking its power from a conventional internal combustion engine converted to run on hydrogen. Unlike previous iterations, however, the Hydrogen 7 has successfully completed BMW's product development process, meaning all of its components were integrated according to the same standards as any other production BMW. The German automaker will produce a limited run of the vehicles for an extensive demonstration and testing program that will put them on the streets at the hands of select users - likely government agencies at first - in the U.S. and other countries.

Based on the company's flagship 7-Series luxury sedan, the Hydrogen 7 contains a storage tank holding 17.6 pounds of liquid hydrogen as well as a conventional 19.5 gallon gasoline tank. The car's 6.0-liter V-12 will run on either fuel at the switch of a button, in both cases developing 260 hp and 287 lbs-ft of torque. The bi-fuel design is intended to keep drivers from becoming stranded between extremely sparse liquid hydrogen filling opportunities. The hydrogen provides a range of about 125 miles with virtually zero CO2 emissions and low NOx emissions. The gasoline tank is good for another 300 miles. One downside: since the liquid hydrogen must be stored at ultra-low temperatures - in this case -418 ºF - BMW says a half-tank of liquid hydrogen will boil off completely in about nine days.

See All Articles

5 Facts About

Air Pollution

What is Air Pollution? Air pollution is broken down into p...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

How LNG is Made and Why It's Appealing LNG is an odorless,...

Keeping Your Car in Tune

A Tuned Car Benefits the Environment When an engine is pro...

Nickel-Metal-Hybrid Batteries

What Are Nickel-Metal-Hydride Batteries? A nickel-metal hy...

Climate Change

Leading Human Causes of Climate Change Burning fossil fuel...